246 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 29, 1916. 



AN ADDRESS BEFORE THE ST. 



LUCIA AGRICULTURAL AND 



COMMERCIAL SOCIETY. 



Before a well attended meeting of the St. Lucia Agri- 

 cultural and (Jommercial Society held in .June 1916, at which 

 His Honour the Adniiuistrat'ir of the Colony presided, an 

 address was delivered concerning the agricultural position of 

 the Colony by the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture, 

 Dr. Francis Watts, C.il.G. In the course of his introductory 

 remarks, ])r. Watts said that agricultural progress and devel- 

 opment in St. Lucia have been subjected to conditions differ- 

 ing in many ways from those of other West Indian islands; in 

 consequence agriculture, at times, has appeared to .suffer 

 some eclipse, and to occupy a less prominent part in the 

 Colony's aflFairs than circumstances seemed to warrant. 



Dealing with events of comparatively recent times. 

 Dr. Watts .said it would be interesting to take a brief survey 

 of them. Formerly sugar played an important part in the 

 agriculture of the Colony, but this industry suffered in 

 common with that of the whole of the West Indies, in the 

 disastrous period of the early eighties. 



At this crisis the Colony wisely turned attention to the 

 creation of other interests, and efforts were made to utilize 

 the harbour and to establish a Coaling Station. How success- 

 ful this has been, and what benefit has accrued to the Colony, 

 was well known. But naturally, while this effort was being 

 made, attention was diverted from agriculture, and this 

 diversion was accentuated by the state of the sugar industry. 



Soon after this, another set of circumstances further 

 diverted the popular mind from agriculture : this was the 

 placing of a garri.son in the Colony and the construction of 

 great works lor the accommodation of verj' large numbers of 

 troops. While this brought much money to the island and 

 helped the development of the harbour and ctoaling stations, 

 it retarded agricultural progress, though agriculture still 

 remained to the Colony as a partially developed asset. 

 Consequently, when in 190'2 there came a change of policy 

 as regards the garrison, and work was stopped and troops 

 withdrawn, attention began to turn to this partly developed 

 asset, and an expansion of agriculture was deemed to be 

 a wise policy. 



St Lucia is fortunate, Ur. Watts went on to say, in that 

 it possesses the.se diverse interests, and it is wise to e.vploit to 

 the full the advantages offered by its i)Osition on the world's 

 trade route, its harbour and its coal depots. These interests 

 should be fostered and developeil by all reasonable means. 

 But St. Lucia would be unwise to neglect its agricultural 

 assets, and that aspect appears to be generally admitted 

 to-day. He thought, therefore, that a brief survey of 

 these assets, and the progress made in the direction of 

 realizing them, might profitalily occupy a short time at the 

 present meeting. 



Dealing lir.st with sugar, it was pointed out that this is 

 the old agricultural industry of the Colony. At the time of 

 the great depression, St. TiUcia, instead of turning to other 

 crops as did Grenada and Montserrat, introduced more 

 efficient machinery and a Csine system, .\rany mi.stJikes 

 were made in this connexion and much money was wasted: 

 nevertheless, when the muscovado industry of neighbouring 

 islands fell into decay and practically ceased, St. Lucia still 

 preserved the sugar industry, which may prove capible of 

 valuable and useful expan.sion in the changed circumstances 

 of the near future. 



In the Colony there is a large area of suitable land for 

 sugar cultivation, consisting of level valleys possessing a good 



rainfall. The industry is concentrated in hands capable of 

 directing its policy, and so it is unnecessary to discuss details 

 of the policy that may wisely be adopted. 



Turning to the cacao crop. Dr. Watts said that under the 

 stress of the misfortunes of the sugar industry, the neigh- 

 bouring colony of Grenada devoted special attention to cacao 

 planting and, as a result, has become ijuickly prosperous. 

 To .some extent, St. Lucia did the same, but other interests 

 diverted to a considerable extent thought, energy, and capital 

 from agriculture. Cacao made some fair development in 

 St. Lucia, but not to the full extent possible. 



Dr. Watts then went on to discuss the progress of the 

 cacao industry as manifested by the export figures in 

 a large diagram illustrating in an interesting manner the 

 progress of the industry. The preliminary effort to 

 tlevelop the industry was due, as already stated, to the 

 sugar crisis. The rapid growth of the industry indicated 

 by the figures for the next few years was greatly 

 assisted by the work of the agricultural officers under the 

 direction of the Imperial Department of Agriculture, which 

 had been established a year or two previously. In this 

 connexion special mention should be made of the work 

 of the Agricultural Instructor during the years referred 

 to, and to the help derived from the Government nur- 

 series. He thought the cacao industry was still deserv- 

 ing of attention in St. Lucia, but only favourable places 

 .should be established in this crop. At the present time 

 there is a much better knowledge existing of the pests 

 and disea.ses of cacao and their control, which removes a fac- 

 tor which has for many years interfered with a rapid exten- 

 sion of this cultivation. More attention might be turned in 

 St. Lucia to the employment of grafted cacao, and to the cur- 

 ing of cacao, [larticularly that produced by the peasants. 



Proceeding to consider lime cultivation, ] )r. Watts said 

 that somewhere in the early years of the present century local 

 cultivators began to give serious consideration to limes, 

 as a result of the success that had attended this indu.stry 

 in Donunica. For several years past there had been 

 a large demand for lime plants from the Experiment 

 Station, and many thousands have been distributed. The 

 export of lime products in terms of barrels of limes was in 

 1914, 12 76.5, while in 191.'), the export was 21,363. These 

 figures may be taken as the equivalent of 180 acres and 

 300 acres, respectively, of well cultivated lime fields. 

 Dr. Watts said that the Agricultural Superintendent had 

 expressed disappointment at the results of i)lanting, for 

 very nmch larger areas than these have been planted and 

 should be in bearing. But he thought that the results 

 have not been so unsatisfactory, considering the indus- 

 try was a new one, and experience has to be gained to show 

 to what extent care and cultivation are necessary. 



The Government lime .juice factory has proved a areat 

 success. In 1914-15 it dealt with L'.l'Ja barrels of li)ne3 

 supplied by 7".'S vendors; in 19I.")-1G, 3,618 barjels of limes 

 supplied by 904 vendors. Dr. Watts said it was interesting 

 to observe that the greater number of the.se vendors were small 

 growers situated in the Castries district and (!ros Islet 

 district, which is a a self-contained area running from 

 Castries along the Leeward Coast to the north of the island. 

 It was important to realize that there were some 7-50 cent.res 

 of individual effort, and each was capable of extend- 

 ing its cultivation to a small extent, but to an extent 

 which when taken altogether would mean a big increase in the 

 total area under lime cultivation Other centres capable of 

 development arc to be found in the Soufriere district, the 

 ^[icoud Heights, and in the Dennery (^)uarter. In connexion 

 with this. Dr. Watts called attention to the need for more 



